I'm crabby about cancer! My blog is the story of my participation in events for Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
As a Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor from 2002, I want to give something back to show the gratitude that I have for surviving this disease. I completed my sixth Team in Training event in October 2013, and in September 2011, I walked 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research! I'm living strong!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Blair's Tale

We had a very special guest at training today, a walking miracle named Blair. Blair celebrated 40 years in remission from acute lymphocytic leukemia this past January. She was three years old when her mom realized she was sick. They had just moved to Memphis, and went to St. Jude's Hospital to get her checked out. Her blood was pink, and after testing, the doctor said that she would likely have a month to live. At that time, the odds of surviving A.L.L. was 4%, but Blair with the grace of God ended up in that group. She had a tough fight. Everything was experimental. She was placed in the experimental group that got a treatment that worked. Children randomly put in other groups died.

Blair put it so well. She said that childhood cancer was tough, but she looks on her life as a tapestry. Some of the threads are dark, but when she stands back and looks at the tapestry, it is multi-colored and beautiful. Radiation rendered her infertile, but she and her husband were able to adopt two beautiful children. She is happy in her adult life. It was touching to see a photo of her in the St. Jude's magazine when she was 4 years old getting treatment. And it was inspirational to see a reunion photo from last year of survivors who had been treated at St. Judes. 40 years ago, a little girl in Tennessee had only a 4 percent chance of living. And here she is today, another miracle girl.

Thank you Blair, for coming out and standing around an hour in the cold talking to our three teams. You inspired us all.

Only a few people came to training today. Our route was a simple out and back 5 miler. Lelia and I and coaches Chuck and Walter ran / walked together. It was a really good workout, once we warmed up from the chilly start. It is a great day to be alive!

Here is a shot of the spring team running up Boulevard. They only have two weeks until their event in Virginia Beach, the Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon.Lelia and Coach Chuck, having fun running along Grove Avenue:

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Racing for a Cure and Living Strong!

About this blog

Every post prior to July 24, 2008 was written previously and posted in this blog as time allowed, starting in June. These posts describe my preparation for and participation in Team in Training for the 2008 Arizona Marathon. In addition, I've written about the May 2008 Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Richmond, Virginia. Posts from July 24 forward were written in the present, as I race to be a small part of finding a cure for the evil beast known as cancer!

Who Should our Role Models Be?

I believe that every day people doing every day things who are trying to do good in the world should be our true role models, not "sports heroes", actors and actresses, pop stars, politicians, super models, and other celebrities. Let them all do what they do best - which is athletics, acting, music, getting elected, modeling, and acting like celebrities. But unless they are a true role model, let's not pretend that they are simply because they can dunk a basketball or look great in a swim suit or win an Oscar. You and I are role models when we do something good in the world.